MEDALLIC PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON, WITH HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL NOTES
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The One Hundred Greatest Items Of United States Numismatic Literature Rank: Number 49
Clain-Stefanelli 15020*, Davis 61, Sigler 153
Americans of the present era miss the veneration accorded to the Father of Our Country in former times. So numerous were these tributes that eventually order was in order, and Baker accepted the challenge, issuing not only this catalog of over six hundred Washington medals, but also three associated works (The Engraved Portraits Of Washington, Bibliotheca Washingtonia and Character Portraits Of Washington) dedicated to biographies, engraved portraits, and character sketches of the first President. Washingtonia was an early numismatic craze, fueled by the creation of the Washington Cabinet of medals inaugurated by the U.S. Mint in 1860. The Cabinet was noteworthy enough to inspire its own medal, Baker-326, which combined an adaptation of Houdon’s celebrated Washington bust with a rendering of the Cabinet display. America being America, public adulation piqued commercial interest, which did not shy from occasionally muling Washington with lesser subjects, “a perversion of true medallic purposes” in Baker’s opinion, whose own work has endured and remains highly regarded in our survey.
1st Edition
Photo courtesy of Thomas Wetter Numismatic Library.
BAKER, William S. MEDALLIC PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON, WITH HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL NOTES.
Philadelphia: 1885
252pp
Quarto: 27.5 x 21.5 cm
Hardbound: Quarter morocco, maroon cloth sides, lettered in gilt
1965 Reprint
Photo courtesy of Wayne K. Homren Numismatic Library.
Iola, WI: Krause, 1965
252pp, 14 plates
Quarto
Hardbound: Maroon cloth, lettered in gilt
Includes a rarity guide.
Second Edition
Please see: Medallic Portraits Of Washington